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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Firefox add-on compatibility reporter makes every add-on compatible regardless of the add-on current status.
Initially Mozilla don't have the automatic add-on compatibility check, meaning developers need to manually test their add-on and update it. Some developers develop add-on as main project. They take care of compatibility issues and update add-on with every release. For some it is a side project and they don't have much time to update the add-on, leaving the add-on incompatible most of the times.

Situation got worse when Mozilla switched to rapid release ( a new browser for every 6 weeks)

Whenever Mozilla releases an update for the Firefox, add-on developers also should update their add ons in the Mozilla add-on site. Otherwise their Firefox add-on will be marked incompatible. They found a solution and updated add-on compatibility process from Firefox 5 (This updated process doesn't involve nightly builds though). Some add-on are still marked incompatible when migrating from nightly to aurora builds. You can still check them using Firefox add-on compatibility reporter.

How it works?

This add-on disables compatibility check, making all add-on compatible.

Try your incompatible favorite add-on. If you find any compatibility issues ( mostly you will), you can report issues by pressing the 'Report Issue' button in the add-on manager.

Report issues button in Firefox add-on manager window

You can report the compatibility status of all your add-on by clicking the add-on icon in the status bar

Report compatibility of Firefox add-on

If the add-on is compatible select the check mark icon, else select cross icon and press submit. No need to worry as the report is sent to Mozilla, not the add-on creator.